The Keymod system is a relatively new alternative rail attachment standard that allows for slimmer and lighter rails than the picatinny system. Strike Industries has just announced their new Keymod rail system for the AK. I believe that the TRAX-1 and TRAX-2 are the first Keymod rails for the AK platform.

The TRAX-1 replaces the AK handguard and mounts to any AK that has a barrel diameter at the gas block of .580 – .631″ and a barrel diameter at the handguard retainer of .657 – .688″. The TRAX-2 is a rail extension that attaches to the TRAX-1 (the TRAX-1 is required to use the TRAX-2). Each of them cost $89, which strikes me as a bargain (please excuse the bad pun). They both include two keymod picatinny rail and will be available in black, Flat Dark Earth and Urban Grey finishes.

One advantage of their modular nature is that the system can be configured in a number of different ways depending functionality you need or how you want your rifle to look.

Founder and Dictator-In-Chief of TFB. A passionate gun owner, a shooting enthusiast and totally tacti-uncool. Favorite first date location: any gun range. Steve can be contacted here.

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Andrew

Its… ITS ALIVE.

Johnny

Awesome

Legersois

As always, not available for Yugo Zastava ^^

Esh325

Never heard of a key mod before. So it’s basically meant to be a lighter version of the M1913 rails?

gat888

Problem solve for those who love the COSTA front grip 🙂
Thank You SI.

saiga556

Wonder if it will fit on a Saiga without the handgaurd retainer

SUPERSOAKER

Are they heat resistant? I bought a rail for my AK and without the rubber grips or a foregrip it heats up after just a few rounds

DiverEngrSL17K

The lower handguard doesn’t appear to have provision for a heat shield, although I might be wrong. On the other hand, the positioning of the ventilation slots would probably allow cooler air to be pulled into the lower handguard via convection as the heated air escaped through the upper handguard slots. As long as this convectional circulation takes place, the lower handguard should stay within a tolerable temperature range. The constant air flow should also help keep the barrel and gas piston a lot cooler, which doesn’t hurt at all.

DiverEngrSL17K

The added lightness vis-a-vis standard M1913 Picatinny rails stem from the fact that the AK TRAX Picatinny rails have cut-down center sections ; the handguards themselves appear to be of a thinner-walled configuration, which would help with the weight savings. rails with cut-down centers can also be found on several existing standard Picatinny installations by other manufacturers, eg., the Leapers UTG AK side rail mount. The other feature of abbreviated rail center sections is that, in certain applications, they enable the user to retain use of the iron sights while still mounting the Picatinny rails at a relatively low height suitable for co-witnessing of optical sight systems.

I also think the obvious modular design of the handguards, which enables the rails to be custom-mounted as the user sees fit, is a good idea, although it is not the first time such a design has been put on the market. The Magpul and VLTOR designs, among others, helped to pioneer this concept. Still, the AK TRAX seems to be very well-made and is certainly a very attractive and practical option.

DiverEngrSL17K

The narrow-profile handguards do have a certain resemblance to the ones from FAB Defense as far as shape and configuration are concerned. Not saying they copied the FAB Defense hardware, just that they probably arrived at a similar conclusion based on design parameters and testing,

Nathaniel

Revenge of the PCAP!

SD

It’s decent, but a lot of my bias lies in how it’s mounted to the rifle.